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<title>BuildTool Readme</title>
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<h1>BuildTool</h1>
<p>BuildTool is a Java based build tool. In theory it is kind of like make
without
makes wrinkles.</p>
<h2>Why?</h2>
<p>Why another build tool when there is already make, gnumake, nmake, jam,
and
others? Because all of those tools have limitations that its original
author
couldn't live with when developming software across multiple platforms.
Make
like tools are inherently shell based. They evaluate a set of dependencies
and
then execute commands not unlike what you would issue on a shell. This
means
that you can easily extend these tools by using or writing any program for
the
OS that you are working on. However, this also means that you limit
yourself
to the OS, or at least the OS type such as Unix, that you are working
on.</p>
<p>Makefiles are inherently evil as well. Anybody who has worked on them for
any
time has run into the dreaded tab problem. "Is my command not
executing
because I have a space in front of my tab!!!" said the original author
of BuildTool way too many times. Tools like Jam took care of this to a
great
degree, but still use yet another format to use and remember.</p>
<p>BuildTool is different. Instead a model where it is extended with shell
based
commands, it is extended using Java classes. Instead of writing shell
commands,
the configuration files are XML based calling out a target tree where
various
tasks get executed. Each task is run by an object which implments a
particular
Task interface. </p>
<p>Granted, this removes some of the expressive power that is inherent by
being
able to construct a shell command such as `find . -name foo -exec rm {}`
but
it gives you the ability to be cross platform. To work anywhere and
everywhere.And
hey, if you really need to execute a shell command, BuildTool has an exec
rule
that allows different commands to be executed based on the OS that it is
executing
on. </p>
<h2>How?</h2>
<p>To get started using BuildTool check out the following topics:</p>
<ul>
<li>Installing BuildTool</li>
<li>Writing a simple BuildFile</li>
<li>Built in Tasks</li>
<li>Writing a new Task</li>
<li>API Documentation</li>
</ul>
<h2>License</h2>
<h2>Feedback</h2>
<p>To provide feedback on this software, please send mail to <a
href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems.</p>
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